Dental care for homeless people in Wales

The report by ABMU Community Health Council (CHC), interviewed 53 homeless and "vulnerably housed" people in Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend and found that few could access emergency dental treatment due to the cost of travelling and many had severe dental problems.

Fewer homeless people attend the dentist than the general population and some of the barriers to this are confusion over the entitlement to NHS treatment, as well as the social stigma, or previous bad experience of treatment that leads to attendance, only once the problem has reached crisis point and, may mean an A&E visit – something that could have been avoided.

And the reality is that a lot of high street dentists may not be able to treat these patients, a lack of time to treat them adequately and be able to explain treatments, or simply being able to process the paperwork, means that the community dental service is often probably the best solution for many of these patients to receive care.

But as we all know, in Wales both the GDS and CDS are already overstretched and we are getting no steer on how we might deal with this looming crisis of those who are struggling to access care in settings where it is most appropriate.

BDA Wales

BDA Wales campaigns for the interests of all dentists working in Wales. With our elected committee members, we negotiate on behalf of the profession on terms and conditions, pay and contracts: join us.